Big decrease in number of immigrants entering the top professions

THE percentage of immigrants entering the top professions in Ireland has dropped dramatically due to the high proportion of newcomers from the EU’s accession states.

According to a survey by the Economic and Social Research Institute, 48.5% of immigrants to this country between 1995- 1999 were in the top three occupational categories — managers, professionals and technical.

But the penetration of immigrants into high-paying jobs fell to just 22.5% of all those arriving between 2004-2005.